Quick easy lunch: Tex-Mex plate

I've worked from home since my kids were in preschool, and they're both in college now. If you think about all the days they were at school and the days since they left, that's a lot of lunches for one at home! And if you're not planning for that, the natural tendency is to gravitate to what's easy and comforting. Which I did. I ate a lot of mac and cheese! Corn chips with cheese dip also passed for lunch some days.

But once I started trying to cut white flour, sugar, and other super-processed foods out of my diet, I needed a new plan.

Whether you work at home or are just spending a lazy (or busy) weekend at home, being able to throw together a meal out of what you have on hand is a necessary skill if you're going to eat healthier. Since my old mac and cheese days, I've gotten pretty good at improvised lunches: opening the fridge and saying, "What do I have to work with here?"

Today was a good example. Looking in the fridge, the first leftover I spotted was a small container of black beans, left over from improvising on salsa verde chicken a couple nights ago. So I started with that.

Okay, what goes with black beans? Hey, there are a few leftover bell pepper chunks from the roasted vegetables we made Friday. And there's some leftover rice. (Converted rice, cooked in chicken broth. Still a white food, but a little lower glycemic than Minute Rice cooked in water.) It would be good to have a little protein with that... what's in the meat drawer? Canadian bacon; that'll work. So, black beans and rice, sounds sort of Tex-Mex... let's grab some salsa. And some sour cream, to make it creamy. Hmm, yogurt would be a little healthier; I'll use that instead.

So after a short pre-heat of my handy 8" non-stick skillet, I diced up a couple slices of Canadian bacon and threw that in the pan. While it was heating through, I sliced up the leftover peppers then added them to the pan.

Next I added two heaping spoonfuls of black beans and the same amount of rice. Part of making lunch quick and easy is not messing with measuring cups! Learn to just kind of wing it. Sure you might make a few mistakes along the way, but you might also have some accidental triumphs!

The "spoonful" here is not a teaspoon and not a huge serving spoon; it's the spoon size in between those.
Next was the salsa. I used two or three spoonfuls, but that's something you could modify according to your taste. Actually, all of this you could modify according to your taste! That's the beauty of it.

A quick stir to get everything mingling nicely, and about a minute on the heat to get everything heated through. Lastly, I sprinkled some shredded cheese on top. I like a cheddar-jack mix, but again, whatever cheese you like is okey-doke. Just leave it alone till the cheese is melted. If you put a lid on the pan, it will melt a little quicker, but even if you don't it'll just be a minute or two.

Once the cheese was nice and melty, I just slid it all out of the frying pan onto my plate, like you would an omelette. Topped it with some sour cream -- negating my earlier, healthier choice, but oh well -- and, for the sake of a prettier photo, a few sprinkles of parsley. Chives or green onions would be more in keeping with the Tex-Mexness of this dish, but I don't have those on hand. I do keep chopped parsley in my freezer, though. (Try it; it's so handy!)

Yummy, satisfying, quick and easy, and pretty healthy to boot!

Here's the recipe -- such as it is -- all in one place:

Easy Tex-Mex Plate

- 2 to 4 slices Canadian bacon, diced (or whatever leftover cooked meat you have on hand; chicken and pork would be great, too.)
- some leftover cooked bell pepper, diced
- 2 rounded spoonfuls of black beans
- 2 rounded spoonfuls of cooked rice
- 2 to 3 rounded spoonfuls of salsa
- 1 spoonful of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- a handful or so of shredded cheese
- optional: sour cream, Greek yogurt, chives and/or green onions for garnish

Preheat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the ingredients, up to and including the yogurt, in the order listed; stir gently. Once all is heated through, top with shredded cheese and keep on heat till cheese is melted. Slide onto a place and garnish if desired. Enjoy!

Serves 1.

Do you have an easy, improvised lunch recipe? Do tell!